Plot

Palmares is a 17th-century quilombo, a settlement of escaped slaves in northeast Brazil. In 1650, plantation slaves revolt and head for the mountains where they find others led by the aged seer, Acotirene. She anoints one who becomes Ganga Zumba, a legendary king. For years, his warriors hold off Portuguese raiders; then he agrees to leave the mountains in exchange for reservation land and peace. It's a mistake. Zumbi, a warrior whose mother was killed by Portuguese and who spent 15 years with the Whites, stays in the mountains to lead Palmares. In 1694, the Portuguese import a ruthless captain from São Paulo to lead an assault on the free Blacks. Can Zumbi keep Palmares free?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Palmares was a 17th-century quilombo, a settlement of escaped slaves in the mountains of northeast Brazil. The story follows a group of plantation slaves, among them Abiola (Tony Tornado), who revolt in 1650 during the Dutch-Portuguese War (1601-1661) and escape to the mountains and the city of Palmares, where they join other former slaves who have already been living there peacefully and autonomously. On arrival, Abiola suggests that Palmares trade with a friendly squatter. The leader of Palmares, Acotirene (Alaide Santos), disagrees, but realizes that she is getting old and times are changing. After consulting a divination tray, she anoints Abiola the new leader and renames him Ganga Zumba and places him under the protection of Xango, who manifests himself though Ganga Zumba in trance. Ganga Zumba goes on to become a legendary king (see Diegues' film "Ganga" about the life of this character in particular). Ganga Zumba and his people keep Palmares safe for years.

The film introduces other important characters, among them Zumbi (Antonio Pompeu), who was born free in Palmares but was captured as a child and lived as a slave for fifteen years, and Ana de Ferro (Vera Fischer), a white woman who choses to live in Palmares because she had been branded a Dutch collaborator as she had been a prostitute in Dutch-controlled Recife. Zumbi becomes chief warrior of Palmares and leads successful raids but refuses to take Recife, since to hold it would require enslaving the white population. Ana rises to become an advisor to Ganga Zumba. When the Dutch-Portuguese War ends, Ganga Zumba is persuaded by the Portuguese to leave the mountains to live on a reservation in the Cocaú Valley in exchange for peace. Many of the villages and towns of Palmares disagree with this change and choose to remain in the mountains. In the Cocaú Valley, Ganga Zumba is poisoned and killed.

The warrior Zumbi emerges as the leader of a new generation at Palmares. Zumbi, unlike Ganga Zumba, demands freedom and independence and refuses to compromise with the Portuguese. Intermittent warfare exists until 1694, when the Portuguese send a decisive force under Domingos Jorge Velho (Maurício do Valle) against Palmares. The quilombo is once again attacked and this time taken by the Portuguese, with most of its inhabitants brutally murdered or enslaved (though the film manages to represent these events without victimizing the people). Although, the movie ends on a low point depicting the death of Zumbi and the destruction of the principal settlement of Palmares, a title card at the end explains that the people of Palmares continued to resist the Portuguese until at least 1797. The film insists that Palmares must continue to live on through memory and by keeping alive the traditions of its people.